ZP team to tour Wagha border, Kulu Manali

ZP team to tour Wagha border, Kulu Manali
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, NOV 23
It’s official. The Wagha border in Punjab and the picturesque hilly regions of Kulu Manali in Himachal Pradesh forms part of the itinerary of the 22-member South Goa Zilla Panchayat entourage to North India as part of the “study” tour.
And, the delegation has plans to seek an audience with Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi while on the return trip to the state – sponsored by the government at a cost of Rs 10 lakh.
ZP Chairperson Maria Rebello told ZP members at Tuesday’s meeting that the government has sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for the study tour, which will take the members to Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, besides Delhi.
Tour coordinator, ZP Member Dayanand Pagi said the team would call on the Amritsar Zilla Panchayat and later their counterparts in Himachal Pradesh to study the Zilla patterns in these North Indian states,  realizing little that a similar exercise undertaken by his predecessors has helped little to effect changes back home or convince the government to devolve additional functions and powers to the district Panchayat body.
If the Chairperson is to be believed, funds sanctioned by the government would take care of the air travel, besides boarding and lodging.
The members would leave Goa on December 5 and return back to the state by December 12.
Meanwhile, members questioned the Chairperson at today’s meeting on the unequal distribution of developmental funds in the 20 constituencies. Even ruling party members were unhappy over the unequal allocation of funds for development, prompting the ZP Chairperson to promise equal allocation of developmental work in the future.
She has also promised to procure dustbins and fixtures by floating a tender, adding that these items would be equally distributed amongst the members.